The National Social Security Institute (INPS) has clarified the benefits provided under Article 24 of the Cohesion Decree (INPS circular, 3 February 2026, no. 10). Following the publication in the Official Gazette of the implementing decree of the so-called ZES Bonus unique for the South, the INPS provided administrative instructions for managing related social security obligations.
The measure was implemented to support the employment development of the ZES, or the Special Economic Zone, unique for the South and to contribute to the reduction of territorial disparities. Article 24 of the decree provided a contributory exemption for private employers who, from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2025, have hired non-managerial personnel under a permanent employment contract.
Specifically, the benefit consists of an exemption from the payment of 100% of the total social security contributions borne by employers, up to a maximum amount of 650 euros per month per worker. However, this is subject to a few conditions related to both the employer and the worker.
The exemption can only be granted to private employers who have hired workers in one of the regions of the Special Economic Zone for the South. Regions eligible for the ZES are Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sicily, Sardinia, and finally Marche and Umbria. Also, the private employers must have up to a maximum of 10 employees in the month they proceeded with the hiring.
The exemption can only be recognized for hires with a permanent employment contract for non-managerial staff who, at the date of hiring, are 35 years old and have been unemployed for at least 24 months. Furthermore, the exemption stands for those who have been employed indefinitely by a different employer who has partially benefited from the exemption.
The circular, along with outlining the main features of the contributory exemption, exposes the procedure for admitting businesses to the incentive and the related obligations of employers interested in the benefit. The document also provides guidance on how to display the data related to the enjoyment of the exemption in various sections of the Uniemens stream.
